With archers from 30 countries taking part, the curtains came down on the Teer 24th Asian Archery Championships on Friday. The competition began on November 8 at the National Stadium and concluded at the Army Stadium.
This time, India emerged as the best-performing nation across individual and team events. They won a total of 10 medals – 6 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze. South Korea secured 2 golds, 4 silvers and 4 bronzes. Hosts Bangladesh claimed one silver and one bronze.
The final day began with the recurve women’s team final. South Korea claimed the gold medal with a 6-0 set-point victory (54-52, 57-55, 56-51) over Chinese Taipei. The gold-winning Korean team consisted of Jang Min-hee, Kim Surin and Nam Su-hyeon. Malaysia had already secured the bronze medal earlier by defeating Uzbekistan 6-0.
In the recurve men’s team final, a thrilling contest unfolded between South Korea and India. With both teams level at 4-4 across four sets (56-56, 56-56, 57-51, 57-53), the match proceeded to a tie-break. India won the shoot-off 29+ to 29, with both sides scoring 29 but India’s arrow landing closer to the inner 10. The Indian gold-medal team comprised Yashdeep Sanjay Bhoge, Atanu Das and Rahul. Uzbekistan had claimed the bronze on Thursday.
In the recurve mixed team final, Chinese Taipei earned the gold medal with a comfortable 6-2 set-point win (35-36, 37-36, 36-34, 35-34) over Uzbekistan. The winning pair for Chinese Taipei were Li Tsai-Chi and Tai Yu-Hsuan.
In the recurve mixed team bronze-medal match, South Korea’s pairing of Jang Min-hee and Seo Mingi swept past India with a 6-0 victory.
In the second session of the day, India’s Ankita Bhakat won the gold medal in the women’s recurve individual event. In the final, she defeated South Korea’s Nam Su-hyeon 7-3 by set points (29-27, 26-26, 26-28, 29–28, 29-28). In the bronze medal match, India’s Deepika Kumari triumphed by 6-5 set points in a tiebreaker, beating compatriot Sangita. After a 5-5 deadlock, both shot 10s in the shoot-off, but Deepika took the win by hitting closer to the centre.
The recurve men’s individual final brought this year’s event to a close. The event featured an all-India final, where Dhiraj Bommadevara defeated compatriot Rahul by 6-2 set points (28-28, 29-26, 28-28, 28-26) to claim the gold. In the bronze medal match, South Korea’s Seo Mingi beat compatriot Jang Chaehwan by 7-1 set points.
President of the Asian Archery Federation and Chairman of the Local Organising Committee of the Teer 24th Asian Archery Championships, Kazi Rajib Uddin Ahmed Chapol, expressed his satisfaction with the organisation as well as the performance of the locals. He said, “My election as President of Asian Archery and the medal won by our boys and girls – all of this together has made us delighted.
“Even though it is a bronze medal, it is a huge achievement for Kulsum. She is a new athlete, it was her first international event, and she was competing for the first time in such a major tournament. She won a medal – in my view, she has done exceptionally well and deserves full praise.”
Tanvir Ahmed, General Secretary of the Archery Federation, said he was extremely happy with how the event went. He said, “I feel extremely pleased. After many days of hard work, sacrifice and effort, we have successfully completed our event. City Group and the Government’s Ministry of Youth and Sports stood by us, and I express my gratitude to them. With everyone’s combined efforts, we were able to complete this event successfully.
“This is the third time we have hosted the Asian Championships. It is not something that can simply be done on a whim – the Asian Archery Federation trusted us based on our previous experience, and they were confident that we would be able to organise the tournament smoothly. This in itself is a major achievement for us. As you know, despite various challenges and adversities, we had to conduct matches across two venues, yet we still managed to organise everything successfully. This is something to be truly happy about.”
President of the Bangladesh Archery Federation, Dr Mokhlesur Rahman, thanked everyone for making the event a grand success.
He stated, “I feel proud of Bangladesh’s achievement (with Kazi Rajib Uddin Ahmed Chapol becoming President of the Asian Archery Federation). Through an election, Bangladesh has taken up leadership in Asian Archery for four years. As a result, I am seeing smiles on the faces of everyone involved – archers, judges and all others connected with the sport. It is rare to see so many smiling faces, but that is exactly what I am witnessing here.
“I want to thank everyone who worked behind the scenes for this event, those whose contributions may not be visible. It is through the combined efforts of all that this tournament has reached this stage. The government has also supported us. We are trying to show greater appreciation for our athletes so that they can contribute even more to the country – because they are the ambassadors of the nation.”